Microsoft has revealed the titles that will be available in April as part of its free games promotion to Xbox Live Gold subscribers - and this month subscribers get double the normal amount of games.

Xbox Live Gold subscribers on Xbox 360 will be able to score Gears of War: Judgment and indie sandbox RPG hit Terraria between April 1st-15th, and on April 16th until April 31st they'll be able to pick up Assassin's Creed: Black Flag and Army of Two: The Devil's Cartel.

February console hardware sales didn't belong to the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, according to NPD Group retail sales numbers released on Thursday. The best selling console in North America during the month was Nintendo's New 3DS XL hand-held. The PS4 did manage to beat the Xbox One in February, and was the top selling home console, when excluding hand-helds. The PS4 also beat out the Xbox One in software sales as well.

An Xbox Live Gold subscription will not be needed to play multiplayer on Windows 10 when it is released, despite it supporting cross play on some games (Xbox One and Windows 10) and the integration of the Xbox Live system into the operating system.

This is according to what Microsoft's Larry Hryb said recently on Twitter. The integration into Windows 10 will "provide access to the vast majority of Xbox Live services currently available on Xbox One," including instant messaging and friends chat.

GII reports that Phil Harrison has quietly left Microsoft, though executives within the company attending the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week have refrained from providing confirmation or commenting on it. When asked by Eurogamer about rumors that Harrison had left Microsoft, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said that "he couldn't say anything about that."

Microsoft has finally extended the Xbox One Preview program to Xbox 360 owners. Despite the age of Microsoft's last-generation console, Microsoft revealed this week at GDC that it will extend the preview program to the system later this year. The preview program allows Xbox 360 owners to try out dashboard and other system-wide changes before they are officially deployed.

Microsoft announced what titles you can score for free during the month of March through Games With Gold, the company's free games giveaway program for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. Xbox One owners who also have an Xbox Live Gold account can download Rayman Legends for free during the month.

Xbox 360 owners who also subscribe to Xbox Live Gold can get the Tomb Raider reboot in the first half of the month. On the 16th of the month Xbox 360 owners can download Irrational Games' Bioshock Infinite.

According to The Verge, Microsoft will finally make good on its promise (long before the Xbox One was released) to make every Xbox One system capable of becoming a development kit. In the old days if you wanted to develop on the Xbox platform you either had to buy an expensive development kit unit or use the XNA framework on the PC.

The first major update of 2015 for Xbox One went live this morning, adding a number of tweaks, adjustments and new features to Microsoft's next-gen home console.

The new update introduces Game Hubs (which let Xbox One users keep track of statistics related to specific titles) improved sync and disconnect times for Xbox One controllers (the time has been reduced to around two seconds), improvements to the Live TV OneGuide (it now tracks trending shows on Xbox and Twitter - US-only), improvements to party chat, and more transparent dashboard tiles.

Microsoft sold 6.6 million Xbox systems in the final three months of 2014, the company revealed this week as part of its FY15 Q2 earnings report, which covers the quarter ended December 31, 2014. We say "Xbox systems" because Microsoft combined sales of both Xbox 360 and Xbox One during that time period in its financials.

Microsoft also said its Xbox business enjoyed a "strong holiday season", while the Devices and Consumer division saw year-over-year revenue growth of 8 percent to $12.9 billion.

Microsoft revealed today that it will start testing its new Xbox One app as part of the January build of the Windows 10 Technical Preview. Microsoft revealed the new app this week during a Windows 10 media briefing event. The app allows Windows 10 owners (who also own Xbox One) Xbox Live integration, cross platform multiplayer and game streaming from an Xbox One to PC.

The Elder Scrolls Online is not the only "free-to-play" game in town on PS4 and Xbox One, it seems. The makers of the online action game APB: Reloaded announced today that its free-to-play game will be hitting both console platforms in the second quarter of this year.

The PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game are being developed at The Workshop Entertainment, which co-developed The Evil Within alongside Tango Gameworks and also worked on the excellent Borderlands 2 expansion, Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage.

Elder Scrolls Online will be going free-to-play later this year and it will be coming to both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 too. Zenimax Online announced that its MMO based on the popular Elder Scrolls series of role-playing games will be released on June 9 for Xbox One and PS4. And with it coming to next-gen consoles the company also revealed that the game will be free-to-play, meaning no subscription fees. To play all you'll need to do is buy it for your favorite platform.

Microsoft has made a clarification to its rules for people who want to stream its Xbox games after some in the community expressed confusion. Last week Microsoft updated its Game Content Usage Rules acknowledging that fans could participate in partner programs to earn revenue for ads on Let's Play videos and game streaming as long as they followed a few rules and conditions.

Update #2: Microsoft has confirmed with Polygon that the return to the $349 price is not "permanent," but the company did not say how long this promotion would last.

Update #1: There is some debate on whether this is a temporary promotion similar to what Microsoft did over the holiday shopping season or a permanent move to the $349 pricing model. We'll have more info on that when it becomes available.

While this particular deal was apparently finalized prior to Microsoft acquiring Minecraft and its maker Mojang, it does nonetheless show you that Microsoft may have some big ideas for the ultra popular sandbox building game.

Starting today CD Projekt RED's popular action-RPG The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings on Xbox 360 is free as part of Microsoft's Games With Gold free game monthly giveaway program for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. Beginning today you can download the game for free and own it even if you let that Xbox Live Gold account expire. You'll have until the end of January to add it to your library.

Xbox One owners still have until the end of January to get D4: Dark Dreams Don't Lie through Games With Gold.

Ed Zarick is at it again. The self-taught engineer has built a "laptop" device that combines both the Xbox One and the PS4. Custom built for a customer, Zarick calls his little creation the PlayBox. The device is a 22" laptop (case) that combines a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One into a single machine. Zarick's latest device is similar to his Xbook Duo design, a previous combo-unit he built that contained both an Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Microsoft gleefully announced that the Xbox One has won an Emmy. No really, the Xbox One has won and Emmy for its multimedia capabilities at the 66th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards. Presented by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vega last Thursday, the prize was given for the Xbox One's television-on-demand functions.

Microsoft has officially said that, "hey people can stream its game content." Microsoft has given user the greenlight to stream gameplay and make Let's Play videos featuring its content on Twitch and YouTube. Microsoft also said that it has no problem with users monetizing this content either, but they'll have to agree to a few terms first. The 16 rules or conditions are covered under Microsoft's new "Game Content Usage Rules."

Buried in its 2014 statistics about what pornography people (both men and women) like to consume, adult entertainment portal PornHub revealed which consoles were the most popular vehicles for visiting its site and consuming its adult entertainment offerings.

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has questioned a teenager in connection with Lizard Squad and its international hacking antics, according to Polygon. The law enforcement agency is looking into a 17-year-old identified only as "Ryan" for his alleged participation in DDoS attacks against PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, according to the report. There's some conflicting reports on whether the teen is still in police custody or if he was questioned and sent home.

Microsoft has put out a gentle reminder (via Larry Hryb AKA Major Nelson) that its price cut on the Xbox One and its various bundle iterations will soon be coming to an end. If you didn't get an Xbox One for Christmas and want to take advantage of the $50 off the price promotion that has been running since November, you'll only have until Saturday, Jan. 3.

An interesting article on Kotaku suggests that the government of China did not force either Sony or Microsoft to region lock their consoles as a condition of launching them in the region this year. Citing an anonymous source within the government, the report concludes that it was likely Microsoft's and Sony's idea to region lock the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 for China.

Sony Pictures will release the controversial comedy "The Interview" on YouTube's movies service, and Xbox platforms, according to The Washington Post. The film is already available for on demand viewing ($5) or as an HD download ($15) through Google Play.

Microsoft has announced the free games that Xbox Live Gold subscribers can get for free in January as part of its ongoing free game giveaway programs, Games With Gold. Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to pick up a free copy of D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die, MX vs. ATV Alive and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition next month, Microsoft announced today.

Respawn Entertainment founder Vince Zampella admits that he may have erred on the decision to make the PC version of Titanfall Origin-only and revealed just how many people are currently playing the game. Speaking to Game Informer, Zampella describes the game as "obviously pretty successful."

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PHX Corp: I launched my spotify account today, and I kinda went a little overboard with adding music03/31/2015 - 3:59pm

Sora-Chan: Con't. Games like AC are a pain to someone like me who likes to play games in order. So when a game gets too many releases too quickly, it puts me off. Only exceptions are games that have no interconnected underlying stories like the FF games.03/31/2015 - 2:53pm

Sora-Chan: Wikipedia has rarely let me down on matters like this. But yeah... AC needs a break.. like two.. or three... or eight years.03/31/2015 - 2:51pm

Conster: There's 9 already?! I think I played 1, 2, and the ones inbetween 2 and 3.03/31/2015 - 2:23pm

Sora-Chan: Con't There are now Nine... of just the main entries into the series. There are 13 more in the "other games" department.03/31/2015 - 2:15pm

Sora-Chan: I tried to get into AC. Was having a decent time with the first one, at which point they had already released three titles. Then a fourth came out... then a fifth... the wall kept growing before I could finish the first.03/31/2015 - 2:14pm

Daniel Lewis: I think ubisoft should give AC a break before it's milked to death,and i'm a big fan of the games03/31/2015 - 1:15pm

Daniel Lewis: The only thing said i disagree with is the final quote on Men's experiences are seen to be universal but women are gendered,though doesn't anita say that games with male protagonists are male power fantasies,so in turn both are gendered03/31/2015 - 1:08pm

Daniel Lewis: i found the video to be much better than any of the TvW series and it's about time the positive women are put in the spotlight03/31/2015 - 1:06pm

Daniel Lewis: So feministfrequency released a positive female character video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXmj2yJNUmQ03/31/2015 - 1:05pm

Daniel Lewis: I think the guy who made the direct leak said it was an april fools joke when a real one was announced03/31/2015 - 12:43pm

MaskedPixelante: No way Nintendo would let information like that get out. Remember, they shut down a memoir about the localization of Earthbound by enforcing a 20 year old NDA on the author.03/31/2015 - 12:42pm

james_fudge: Conster: the larger issue is that Ind. does not protect LGBTQ+ people under state law03/31/2015 - 12:11pm

PHX Corp: @MP I think it is confirmed(not an April Fools joke) http://mynintendonews.com/2015/03/31/nintendo-direct-confirmed-for-wednesday-april-1st/03/31/2015 - 12:00pm

Conster: Apparently Pence intends to amend SB101 so denying service isn't allowed - without explicitly protecting LGBT+ and while still allowing the many other things you can get away with now if it's motivated by your religious beliefs.03/31/2015 - 11:53am

MaskedPixelante: http://mynintendonews.com/2015/03/30/rumour-nintendo-direct-on-april-1st/ A supposed full leak of tomorrow's Nintendo Direct, so you can all laugh and laugh about how wrong it is.03/31/2015 - 11:35am

PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/why-a-tekken-7-character-is-being-called-a-phoney-1694724959 Why a Tekken 7 Character Is Being Called a Phoney03/31/2015 - 10:08am

Michael Chandra: Argh. Anyway, I'm glad that move was made. Wonder if it counts, can he just declare it like that? 03/31/2015 - 9:27am